Automobile transmission-gearing.



W. 0. FALK. v AUTOMOBILE TRANSMISSION GEARING.

. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3,1910. 958,242. Patented May 17, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W. 0. PALK. AUTOMOBILE TRANSMISSION GEARING.

v APPLIOATION FILED FEB.3,1910. 958,242. Patented May 17, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

To all whom it may concern:

onion.

WALTER o. FALK, or BLUFFTON, INDIANA.

AUTOMOBILE 'rnxnsmrssron-enanme;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 1'7, ieioi.

Application filed February 3, 1910. Serial No. 541,741.

Be it known that I, WALTER C. FALK, citizen of the United States, residing at lBlu'lfton, in the county of Wells and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Automobile Transmission-Gearings, of which the following is.a specification.

The present invention relates in general to motor Vehicles, and more particularly to novel means for transmitting powerto the front wheels of the vehicle as well as to the rear wheels, thereby ,increasing the road adhesion of the machine and enabling. a much larger portion of the power of the engine to be utilized when starting the machine or running at a low speed. g

The object of the invention is the provision of a motor vehicle in which power is transmitted to 'all four of the wheels, the said motor vehicle being simple and inexpensive in its construction, reliable in opera.- tion, and being so. designed as'not to interfere in any manner with the steering mechanism. 7

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel combina tions and arrangement's of the parts'as will more fully appear as the description pro oeeds, the novel fea'tures thereof being pointed. out in the appended claims, I i v For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had'tothe following description' and accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is atop planview of the running gear of an automobile constructed in accordance with the present invention.v Fig. 2' is a top plan View of the forward end of the automobile, parts being shown in section. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the automobile, parts bein broken away and shown in section, and ig. 4 is an enlarged Verticalsec tional "'viewthroughthe gearing which is provided at each end of the front axle. 2 Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawing by the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the main frame of the vehicle, an engine2 of any suitable construction being Ihoun'ted upon the forwardportion of p the frame so asto transmit motion to the usual transmission gearing 3Ywhich is shown as mounted upon the central portion of the;

gearing 3 also meshes with a gear wheel 8 at the rear end ofv a forwardly extending shaft 9 which is journaled upon the frame of the'vehicle'and is shown as passing under the engine, the forward end of the shaft transmitting power through the usual differential gearing 10 to the front axle 11. This front axle is journaled in suitable bear ings 12 upon the main frame 1 and is pro vided at each end with a vertically disposed bevel gear wheel 13. Each of these bevel gear wheels 13 meshes with a horizontally disposed beveled gear wheel 14 which acts as an idler and is loosely mounted upon a I vertical shaft 15 which passes through openings in a casing 16 projectin from the bearing 12. This casing 16 is eit er integral ororigidly connected to the said ,bearing 12 and the vertical shaft 15 turns freely therein about its axis. J

The middle portion of each of the yer tical shafts 15 is enlarged to form a horizontally disposed cylindrical bearing 17 in which the inner end of a stub axle, 18 is journaled, the outer end of the saidstub axle having one of the front wheels 19. keyed upon or otherwise rigidly applied thereto.

The extremities of each of the vertical shafts 15 have an angular formation and project both above and below the casin 16, the ends" of a yoke 20' being fitted over t e said angushaft are rigid with each other and turn in lar ends of the shaft so that'the yoke and is formed with a bearing 21 which is s aced from and in alinernent with the cylin ical bearin 17.and within which the stub axle 1 18 is a so journaled. V

As shown on the drawings, the bearings for thefstub axle are provided with the usual antifriction rollers 22 to reduce the friction and prevent bindingof the parts. LKeyed rotated motion will also 'be transmitted to and owing to the fact t the stub axles 18 through the medium of the beveled gear wheels 13, 14 and 23. Each of the stub axles 18 is formed with a'collar 24 which engages the outer end of the cylin-' axles will be held securely against any upward swinging movemen main frame,

The lower end of each of the vertical shafts 15 also has a steering lever 27 fitted thereon, the two steering levers projecting both forwardly and rearwardly fromthe vertical shafts and having their corresponding extremities connected in the usual, manner by means of the links 28. Connection with .a steerin wheel 29 may be made throu h the medium of any conventional form 0 gearing such as that indicated at 30 so that the front wheels may be turned about a vertical axis and the machine guided in the usual manner.

From the foregoing descri tion, it will be obvious that I have provided a very simple and efiective means for transmittin power tothe front wheels of a motor vehic e without interfering in any 'mannerwith the steering mechanism for 'ding the machine.

Having thus describe the invention, what- I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is: I

1. In a motor vehicle, the combination of a main frame, an engine mounted upon the an axle journaled upon the main frame, means for transmitting power from the engine to the axle, a casm carried by the main frame adjacent eac end of the axle, a vertical shaft loosely mounted upon each of the said casings, the said vertical shafts being provided with horizontally wheels about a vertical axis.

disposed bearings, a yoke fitted to each of the vertical shafts so as to rotate therewith and formed with a bearing arranged in alinement with the bearing of the said vertical shaft, stub axles journaled within the bearings of the yokes and vertical'shafts, wheels rigid with thestub axles, means for transmitting motion from the before mentioned axle to the stub axles, and means for turning the vertical shafts to swing the wheels about a verticalfaxis.

2. In a motor vehicle, the combination of a main frame, an en e mounted upon the main frame, an axli journaled upon the main frame and provided at each end with a gear wheel, means for transmitting motion fromthe en e to the axle, a casin carried by the main frame adjacent each en of the axle, a vertical shaft rotatably mounted upon each of the casin and formed at a pomt between its end with a horizontally disposed bearin a yoke applied to each of the vertical sha s so as to rotate therewith,

ends of the vertical shaft while the middle portion of the yoke is formed with a bearing which is arranged in alinement with the bearin of the vertical shaft, stub axles journa ed within the bearings of the'yokes and the said vertical shafts, wheels rigidly applied to the stub axles, gear wheels oose upon the vertical shafts and meshing with the before mentioned gear wheels of the axle, gear wheels keyed upon the stub axles and meshing with the said gear wheels loose upon the vertical shafts, and means for turning the vertical shafts to swing the In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses;

WALTER c. r '1;

Witnesses JOHN K. RINEEABT, Grams. G. DAILEY.

the ends of the yoke being secured to the 

